31 

 size, and tiiey are dist.i ntfuisfiat le from other- coniijonents of 

 the same nerves by this feature. They terminate in the lotus 

 va£i. The greater number of them in J/ustelus pass directly 

 to their central terminatioii witliout entering the fasciculus 

 communis, using this term in the sense as originally applied 

 by Osborn ('S3) to a definite longitudinal tract. 



The communis system is homologous with the viscero-motor 

 system, the lobus vagi in which central termi nation occurs 

 being the continuatior: into the brain of the lateral or inter- 

 mediate ?cne of gray matter in the cord. The viscero-sensory 

 system in its original condition is, however, of far less im- 

 portance than its cranial representative. The communis system 

 not only innervates visceral organs, but it has come into rela- 

 tions with taste-buds and peripheral end-buds, as well. It 

 therefore is a system having a very considerable magnitude. 



e. The Acustieo-Lateral System is concerned exclusively 

 with the innervatioii of the internal ear and the organs of 

 the lateral line. Its fibres are components of the VIl, VIH, 

 and X nerves. They penetrate the tuberculum acusticum for 

 immediate termination there, or for a course farther forward 

 into the cerebellum. The significance of the latter termina- 

 tion will be discussed later. The components of this system 

 in the VIl and X are to be readily distinguished from other 

 fibres associated witlj them by virtue of their great diameter. 



The acusti co-lateral system is not represented in the 

 spinal nerves, as the four preceding cranial systems are. The 



